<p>What is a formal way to start a conversation with recruiters in a career fair?
When is the proper time to hand in my resume? At the beginning of the conversation or at the end?
What are the smart questions to ask? And what questions should NOT ask?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Just hold a conversation with the person and don’t be awkward. If you can’t figure that out at this point, then you probably shouldn’t have majored in business. </p>
<p>There is just as much pressure on the person recruiting you to not make it awkward and most of them will have lead in questions that are easy to acquaint yourself. Give your resume at the end once you have created a rapport.</p>
<p>Handing the resume depends on the type of event. If this is a FORMAL event (suit and tie and all that), bringing resumes would be a good idea. If this is just a business casual event, do NOT bring resumes. The last thing people want to do at a SOCIAL is to look at your resume and hold it for the whole time.</p>
<p>What do you guys think about freshman at formal career fairs. I’ve already had a lot of interaction with recruiters from the big 4 accounting firms at my school (at events for freshman), and they always tell me I should start going to the formal career fairs and recruiting events. I went to the formal finance career fair the other day, and I had no idea what to say to any of the recruiters. It just seems kind of useless because i’m not applying for a job. </p>
<p>Any advice?</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with starting your network early. Keep it up and getting a summer leadership and summer internship should be much easier. </p>
<p>As for conversation starters, what really helped me is if I walked up with a friend of mine. I am somewhat shy so being with someone I knew well made me relax a bit more. Once you start the conversation, ask the person about what they do, how long they’ve been with the firm, etc. One conversation starter that I always used was I would ask about the different workstyles of tax vs. audit. Once the conversation gets going, it gets a lot easier.</p>
<p>hkem123, if you want to get a big advantage over other accounting majors in your class for internships, take A311 the Spring semester of your sophomore year. Recruiting for summer big four internships takes place in the Fall semester, and recruiters will be much more willing to take a chance on you for an internship if you have already passed this weed out course before the Fall of your junior year. Of course, you could take A311 in the summer,too. You would have to have A100, A201, and A201 completed before taking A311.</p>
<p>And for a really huge advantage over other accounting majors in your class, take Icore your summer before Fall recruiting after taking A311 in the Spring.</p>
<p>Also, you should naturally try for leadership positions in clubs and apply for summer leadership programs after your freshman year. Also any case competitions. Big four likes to see that you can multi-task and still maintain high grades.</p>
<p>Do you like to party?</p>
<p>Have you asked someone out on a date? Same concept.</p>
<p>^ +1905…</p>